Last Ride In The Flying Dumptruck

I have a new name for the Archer that I've been flying recently. "The Flying Dump Truck". I had to go to Wickenburg today and took Dana with me. We were well under max gross weight, but the thing just doesn't like to climb at all. More on "TFDT" in a few paragraphs.

This morning, there was a TFR because President Bush was in Phoenix. General aviation traffic was nearly non-existent. The TFR was really not that big of a deal. Simply put, all non 121 traffic had to be on a VFR/IFR flight plan, receive a discrete squawk code and be in constant radio contact while within the 30nm TFR ring.

On the way to pick up Dana, I filed a quick VFR flight plan to Wickenburg and got a brief. When we picked up the airplane, they tried to tell us the plane couldn't be flown until the TFR was lifted. I explained to them that I had a flight plan and wouldn't depart without clearance and would accept full responsibility for the tail#. Good enough. After start up, I called up Falcon ground and requested clearance. It really wasn't any different than contacting clearance delivery for an IFR flight. They gave us clearance to taxi and when we called tower, we waited about 30 seconds for them to receive takeoff clearance from Phoenix approach. We took off right on time and even though we were vectored somewhat out of the way, favorable winds put us on the ground in Wickenburg in less than 40 minutes. Air Force One took off while we were north of Sky Harbor, but it was too hazy to see. Bummer.

After Wickenburg, we decided to head towards Sedona before coming home. There was an active Airmet for Northern Arizona with wind gusts in excess of 35 knots. Approaching Prescott on the way to Sedona, we encountered some light turbulence and decided to file a PIREP and get a weather report. He didn't have specific winds for Sedona, but Flagstaff was reporting 160 at 18, gusting to 25. We got ATIS for Prescott and it was pretty much the same. Sedona just isn't a good airport to head to with strong winds, so we decided to full-stop in Prescott.

After stretching our legs in Prescott, it was time to head back to Falcon and Dana's turn to fly. The winds had picked up even more, but it was a direct headwind. At run up, we leaned for density altitude and I warned her about how heavy this plane recommending we rotate higher and make use of the entire runway. We rotated at 65 and the plane didn't want to climb out of ground effect. Dana held it in ground effect for Vy (73 kias) and it finally started a painfully slow climb. If it was a hot day, I think this plane would have been dangerous.

We crossed a strong pressure gradient on the way back to Falcon. Our ground speed went from 72 knots to 118 knots! Other than Snottsdale not clearing us through their precious airspace, the flight back to Falcon was uneventful. Winds back in Phoenix were light and variable, a huge difference from Northern Arizona.

So I did the math and figured that the Archer at $119/hour costs more than a 172SP at $120/hour. The Cessna climbs MUCH better, reaching cruising altitude and a higher cruise speed which translates to less Hobbs time. I also squawked something last time I flew it and it hadn't been fixed. It wasn't a MEL item or 91.213, but it still irritated me that it wasn't corrected. Let's just say any idiot could have fixed it.

The aircraft is just too heavy. With A/C, extra sound insulation and fairly worthless options like a carb ice detector, EGT gauge and more this plane flies like a dump truck with wings, hence "The Flying Dump Truck". I was going to fly it to Burbank tomorrow, but it climbs so poorly that I wouldn't trust flying it on an IFR flight. I really doubt it could climb to the MEA and am sure it wouldn't meet climb performance minimums.

It's a nice aircraft, a pimped out ride, but I would rather be safe in a well maintained beater that performs within reason than die in style.

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I mentioned in my last post that we were going to see Roger Waters in Phoenix for my wife's birthday. Monday afternoon, I got a line on a great pair of seats for Thursday at The Hollywood Bowl. Hmmm. Seeing a concert at some faceless ,vanilla, run of the mill, corporate named concert pavilion in Phoenix -OR- experiencing life at it's fullest at the world famous Hollywood Bowl. Tough decision. I couldn't get a 172 on short notice and well, you know, TFDT is no longer a consideration. It'll be a nice drive anyway. 200HP direct injection turbo engine with the amazing DSG transmission, 4 gigs of MP3, Sirius radio, GPS Nav and my best friend at my side.

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I still haven't started multi engine! Scheduling has been a hassle and my instructor and I just haven't been able to coordinate. Saturday and Sunday, I'll get the first four sim lessons out of the way so I can start flying the Seneca next week. FINALLY.

With ground school out of the way and the FAA written to be taken next week too, I'm finally starting to feel like a commercial pilot. Maybe someday, there will actually be a sucker out there willing to pay me to fly. Imagine that?!?